Not so much a general sports blog as an irregularly updated desperate plea for help.

Thursday, October 09, 2008

Granted, the Leafs prefer the media keep its distance

Talk about your "dammit, why didn't I think of that" moments:

Move the press boxes closer to the ice. Hockey is incredibly fast, but because press boxes are as far from the action as they can possibly be, the game looks slow. Many American writers are new to the game and aren't aware of the speed at which it is played. If they were, they would write in more glowing terms. Since basketball takes this approach, it's surprising that (NHL commissioner Gary) Bettman hasn't mandated it."

There is a FFC of this ever happening, since the NHL will never, ever give up any of those high-priced expensive seats. Great suggestion by Mr. Strachan, but the NHL won't take seats out to accommodate a wider ice surface, which would make for a better game. Besides, Gary Bettman doesn't have that kind of pull -- it's not like he's one of BusinessWeek's 20 most infuential people in sports or something, because he isn't.

The commissioners of the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball and NASCAR are Nos. 2, 3, 7 and 8. Bettman is 21st, just ahead of L.A. Kings owner Philip Anschutz and his partner Tim Leiweke. With the push to put a team in Kansas City just because Anschutz built a rink there, some would say those spots should be reversed.

If that's the case, it's dumb for the NBA to do that ... I've covered games from courtside and I've sat in the press box at Scotiabank Place when Carleton and uOttawa have played there. You need to be at courtside.